Dawn Hochsprung had worked at Sandy Hook Elementary for two years, and immediately became a beloved figure. / Eliza Hallabeck, AP

by Gwen Flanders, USA TODAY

by Gwen Flanders, USA TODAY

They were doing what they had vowed they would always do: Take care of children.

Stories of some of those who died in the Connecticut school tragedy Friday are emerging in proud and sorrowful tributes by friends and family. Details are still uncertain, but for now, this is what people are saying about those whose daily heroism reached the ultimate level.

Sandy Hook Elementary School principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, who had quickly won the affection of students and parents in her two years at the school, ran to confront the gunman as soon as she heard the sickening sound of shooting.

Town officials say Hochsprung was killed while lunging at the gunman as she tried to overtake him, the Associated Press reported.

"I would expect her to jump right into the chaos," neighbor Judith Neukam said. "I think she would have felt responsible for it and she would have taken that responsibility."

Bernardo De Castro, 39, who lived next door to Dawn Hochsprung and her husband George until they moved to a new house, said reports that the principal acted heroically sound like the woman he knew.

"She had a very strong presence," he said. "She was very frank. She had strong opinions. I'm not surprised she stepped out of the office when she heard something was going on."

Jeff Capeci, chairman of the Newtown's Legislative Council, was asked if Hochsprung is a hero. He said, "From what we know, it's hard to classify her as anything else."

First-grade teacher Kaitlin Roig said she implored her students to be quiet as they huddled in a bathroom. She barricaded the door with a bookshelf.

"I told them we had to be absolutely quiet," Roig told ABC News. "Because I was just so afraid if he did come in, then he would hear us and just start shooting the door. I said, 'We have to be absolutely quiet.' And I said, 'There are bad guys out there now, and we need to wait for the good guys to come get us out.'"

"If they started crying, I would take their face and say, 'It's going to be OK. Show me your smile,' " she said. "They said, 'We want to go home for Christmas.' 'I just want to hug my mom.' Things like that, that were just heartbreaking."

She said she told them that she loved them, in case it was the last thing they ever heard.

Maryann Jacobs, a library clerk at Sandy Hook, told reporters that the school has regular lockdown drills.

"We practice. We know what to do. ‚?¶The kids know the routine."

When the shooting started, she and three other adults locked kids in a storage room that had paper and crayons. They had the kids color. She said she knew there was a shooting, but the kids didn't know whether it was a drill or not.

First-grade teacher Vicki Leigh Soto, 27, died trying to protect the children she loved, her cousin Jim Wiltsie told The Wall Street Journal.

When the gunfire started, she gathered her students and hid them in a classroom closet, officials told her family.

"In doing so, she put herself between the kids and the gunman's bullets," said Wiltsie, who is a police officer. "That is how she was found. Huddled with her children."

He said he didn't know if her students were among the dead.

Soto grew up in Stratford, Conn., the oldest of four children in a big extended family that included many public workers and first responders.

"Vicki was a great individual with a huge heart and put students first. Unfortunately, that is how she lost her life," Wiltsie said. "I wanted people to know that she was a hero for what she did, and that she gets the recognition that she deserves."

A Facebook posting Friday said, "She died a hero today. ‚?¶ She deserves to be remembered for her bravery."